Heaven and Home
by ellumina
Summary: Cloud had been to the Promised Land. He had been to the Seventh Heaven. Now, it was time to go home. Cloud and Tifa


Disclaimer: Square Enix owns Final Fantasy and all its characters.

**Heaven and Home**

The water rippled and glowed like pearls and silver catching the moonlight that managed to filter through the low clouds of the late night. It held a different kind of grace, a divinity not entirely unlike the one who'd created it and that grace, that light spread to invite his soul into its warm confines where he gladly settled, thinking dreamily of things and people he'd been afraid to think of before.

It wasn't all that deep. Cloud remembered that it had barely reached his waist, but it burst from a ceaseless source somewhere under the ground, guided by the woman whom was once the sunshine that had graced the church.

Her flowers still floated on the surface, bright yellow and white, scattering themselves across the edges of the pool and looking as alive as they had been mere hours ago. A day earlier, the sight of them would have triggered the resurfacing of a guilt he'd buried deep inside.

They whispered words only he could hear.

_Forgiven…_

"Forgiven…"

Aerith showed him how to forgive himself for letting her down and that guilt he held over her death no longer existed. Cloud _could_ smile as he watched the flowers twirl prettily under the force of the breeze that seeped in from the shattered ceiling. Cloud _wanted_ to smile as he watched them glide and dance and he remembered Aerith, the memory not accompanied with guilt, but with gratitude.

And he didn't have it so hard anymore.

That same wind ruffled his hair occasionally like a mother's loving hand. Cloud would wonder every time his hair swayed, if it was her doing.

He sat by the edge of the pool, one leg dangling against it, the heel of his boot mere inches from interrupting the serenity of the water, and the other bent casually in front of him. He rested one arm against his raised leg and leaned in a little to watch the water.

There was a distant, faraway look in his eyes driven by the fact that his mind was on a journey to the near past. He thought of the events of the day, of the enemies he'd fought and the Geostigma that would no longer be a part of his life. He thought of seeing old enemies and old friends and he thought of how lucky he was for not being alone.

He was luckier still that he'd _never_ been alone.

The church was quiet, although peacefully so, the only sounds interrupting the tender tranquility were his breathing and the ripple of the water as the breeze swam trough it. He stayed gratefully in that peace. It had been so long since he'd felt so relaxed.

He was torn between smiling and frowning as the sound of the huge oak doors opening behind him broke through the silence echoing for a while before it settled again, and Cloud blinked once, twice and gently put his whirring mind to rest.

No footsteps sounded behind him and the frown that touched his brow became of a different nature.

He already knew who'd come to seek him out and a glance over his shoulder confirmed his thoughts.

She stood still hand on the door, swallowed slightly by the shadows but Cloud caught her gaze and held it, the heightened sight in his Mako-tinted eyes not really playing a role in what he was seeing. He gazed at her with his heart and with the treasured memories they shared.

Through the shadows, her lips held a smile and her eyes held uncertainty.

"Tifa?" he called questioningly, shattering the silence once again with the sound of her name. His voice was deep, smooth and familiar and her name on his lips held lingering traces of days that had held so many memories. It was just her name his lips formed, but _he_ called for her and the voice of his heart wasn't as smooth or confident as the one he used when he called her name.

He was concerned.

But deep down, he felt the knots that were binding all the broken figments of his life together strengthen a bit. He wasn't surprised, not when the manifestation of those small, simple pieces milling together stood in one, complete picture just a few feet away.

He continued watching her where she stood, so close and so far, and she was breath-taking. His lungs would soon hurt. And his pounding heart was complaining too.

For a moment, he seemed amused that the slight ache in the muscles of his neck caught his attention first, and he turned his face around to the pool and touched his fingertips gently at his neck.

"I thought I'd find you here," she spoke up. Her voice was not as uncertain as her gaze. It was relieved and it was concerned at the same time. "It was getting late. I was making sure you were okay."

Cloud wondered if it was fair of him to make her worry now that everything was okay. Then again, he knew that she would worry about him till the end of time just because he'd been lucky enough to snatch himself his own, private place in her heart. She was worried that the events of the day were too much for him to stomach all at once.

That was how well she understood him.

"I just…" he didn't know what to say. He never really knew what to say unless she took the initiative. And then it occurred to him that she would always take the initiative and he still wouldn't be able to know what to say. At some point in time, it stopped mattering.

Tifa taught him a few years ago about how words weren't the only thing that told people how he felt.

"The children fell asleep, finally," she added with a weary sigh and he smiled because she was still talking even when he understood what exactly she felt. "I put them to bed and came over to check on you. Cloud, are you going to spend the night here?"

It wasn't rhetorical. It was genuine and it wasn't laced with hurt.

He turned to look at her over his shoulder again and held out his arm, his fingers splayed open.

"Tifa, come here."

She frowned, a bit guardedly, and then walked towards him, the floor creaking as she stepped onto the damp wood. The sound wasn't disturbing though. It reminded her that there was life in the church and that even when the beautiful flower girl was gone, her spirit lingered still and warmed the place like her smile once did.

They were fond memories, figments of her past that she'd come to cherish more than others. And they held more peace than the rest of her memories put together.

Aerith never did die. The beautiful flower girl had simply moved on.

When the wondering brunette reached Cloud's side, she crouched down next to him, careful not to tip off the edge of the floor. But she did not sit and when his eyes found hers, questioningly, she wasn't really meeting his gaze.

Cloud watched her, his body tensing slightly when she leaned forward and trailed her fingers across the surface of the water breaking the serenity for a brief moment. His hand jolted against his knee, ready to yank her back if she leaned in too far.

But she didn't and she backed a little, unknowingly erasing a different type of fear form his heart.

"It's warm," she commented, smiling at the flowers and holding her fingers up to watch the crystal drops fall from her fingertips. She leaned back more and Cloud let his body relax. "But it's cold outside."

Tifa released a deep sigh and rubbed her hands together. The water on her fingers didn't dry. Instead it spread and with it the warmth infused in the moisture. Tifa welcomed it, but only for a brief moment, remembering that she was now the caretaker of two wonderful children.

"I should go," she announced, rising to her feet. Cloud didn't really react at first so she took the liberty of explaining. "Marlene would freak out if she woke up and didn't find me."

She called his name and Cloud felt her hesitation before he saw it in her eyes. His chest tightened instantly with a feeling that bordered dangerously close to anger while thoughts of wiping away what had put the hesitation in her eyes invaded his mind.

Her voice calmed him a second later.

"Try not to stay up too long, okay," she said, her tone holding a hint of worry. But she smiled down at him and touched her hand briefly to his shoulder. "You should just rest up after everything that's happened today."

He stopped her before she could move away, touching a gentle hand to her forearm.

"Stay here, Tifa," he said to her, his eyes gazing meaningfully into hers. He knew she was stubborn but he wasn't about to let her to the streets on her own. "Don't walk alone at this hour."

_And just…stay with me for a while._

Tifa looked down at him, her eyes softening. She shook her head gently but he was too distracted by the tendrils of coffee-colored hair that swept across her face to notice. When she lifted her hands to tuck them behind her ears, he blinked his way into the present.

"I don't want to leave them alone too long. I can take care of myself Cloud," she admonished though her voice was light. It occurred to him that she hadn't been this happy in a long, long time. And it occurred to him that _she_ had been more alone than he ever was because although, he'd always here her voice through voicemail, he never did give her the chance to hear his. He'd known it would make her happy…

"It's easier than taking care of you and the kids."

He listened to the rustle of her clothes as she prepared to leave, and the content in his eyes dimmed a notch. It would really be selfish of him to keep her here when she was too tired to stay awake. He'd been selfish too many times.

He heard her stop behind him, and his heart swelled and soared and the thoughts in his mind blanked away as emotion took over. And, knowing she was so close to him, he focused every fiber of his being into feeling her.

Her fingers brushed his shoulders when she kneeled down behind him, lingering for a few moments as if hesitant. And Cloud gently covered them with his hands to keep her there.

"You brought them back to me." Her voice, it was still gentle and heavy with emotion. "And I…I…"

She sounded like life, broken and happy and real and he wanted it, broken or not because it was a part of her and that was exactly what he wanted to be.

And, despite the pain, the worry and all the hardships, her life was just so beautiful.

He heard her sigh, felt the warmth of her breath against his nape and then felt the brush of her lashes against his skin as she leaned in, her body relaxing enough for her arms to slip further across his shoulders, hands lingering lossely at the base of his throat.

He moved his hands away, just because he wanted _her_ to be the one to hold onto him and not hesitate when she did it anymore.

"And I never did…thank you," she finished. The corner of his lip curled slightly upwards when he heard the relief in her voice. She wasn't whispering anymore, but the emotion in her voice had intensified and he could feel her lips quiver against him with the words they spilled.

Cloud smiled. Emotion was that powerful force that held her together even when it had been the one to break her apart. And when it made its presence known, in her voice, in her breaths, in the rushed beat of heart, she wouldn't fight it. Cloud wouldn't let her. Because it was also the force that brought him to her, where he'd always wanted to stay.

It was controlling her now. He knew because he could feel the energy seep from her body and the tense fingers that had been resting at his shoulders relaxed and dipped forward.

"So thank you…Cloud, for not letting me give up."

When she said his name, he felt like he was in heaven.

He looked down at her arms, lying gently across his collarbone and thought of her. She was always so strong, the stronger one of the two, but deep inside, when he searched his heart, he still wanted to be the one protecting her. And Tifa would let him because she needed him to be her hero. Cloud wouldn't have had it any other way.

He lifted his hands and gently brushed his fingers against her skin, wondering if there had ever been a day when this was not what he wanted. His mind came up blank.

_You're welcome._

Her arms were cold underneath the fingers that had settled against it and he wondered, as they started slipping away, if she would feel any warmer if he held her a bit more firmly.

He was afraid to let her go, so he didn't. His hand closed over her wrist and he stopped her from leaving again, gently tugging her back to his side.

When she overcame the confusion, her eyes met his and the gaze he gave her held a hint of finality.

"Cloud, I'm tired," she tried to reason and mumbled when she noticed her words falling on deaf ears, "I need to get home and get some sleep."

Somewhere in the middle of her words, his mind wandered back two years and he remembered how she'd been tired and how she'd needed to sleep while he spent the night wide awake. Back then, there was no home to go back to, no children left alone. She only had him.

Now, she did have a home and children to take care of. But she still had him. He couldn't let her forget that.

"Not alone, Tifa," he insisted. There was an unfamiliar tone in his voice. Not just concern, but something stronger, more final. Something that lingered dangerously close to a command.

He smiled slightly, just an upward curve of his lips and turned back to gaze at the water. It was getting windier. The surface was getting restless and the flowers twirled faster.

"Stay some more," he said earnestly. "I'll take you home later."

She watched him gaze earnestly at the water and turned her eyes to the line of his sight, thinking for a moment. It was very peaceful. Tranquil. It reminded her so much of the smile of the girl who made it possible.

The thought made Tifa herself smile and she realized, with a glimmer of amusement, that it was a beautiful peace to share with someone. Cloud was never one to willingly share things. Tifa understood because until now, all these things he kept to himself only brought pain. She understood that, now that the pain was gone and there was so much peace inside him and everywhere around him, he wanted to share it.

"Just for a while," she said softly, brushing a hand over her eyes. "But I can't promise to stay awake."

Cloud's smile deepened and he shifted next to her letting both his legs dangle down the edge of the floor.

He hadn't realized he'd been cold until Tifa settled next to him, radiating warmth that went somewhere beyond the few degrees of temperature that cold and warm were always about. Even though they were barely touching, and even though she was probably feeling colder than him, the warmth remained, spreading like a golden wave to the corners of his body. It started somewhere in the middle of his chest.

"You're tired," he said softly, without really looking up at her. "I'm not trying to keep you awake."

Tifa leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees and reached for the water. Cloud felt himself tense again, his hand hovering slightly to grab her if she leaned in too far. She seemed entranced in a way, like she was not completely here, but somehow it didn't bother him because when he looked, really looked for the pieces of her that had gone somewhere else, he found them easily.

They were somewhere in the middle of his chest too, where that warmth he was feeling had originated

"Just for a while," she repeated her earlier statement. "I'll head back soon."

His eyes dimmed slightly and he thought again of that day underneath the Highwind. For a moment, he smiled, silently saluting the Highwind and then his thoughts were back on track again, and he remembered how it had been on that day with him and her and only a starlit sky to watch over them.

Two years ago, she had no 'back' to head to. He'd been there and that had given her some peace before they ventured into the uncertainty of tomorrow. And that was how Tifa had managed to hold on. She didn't need a home then, not when he'd been there watching over her, along with the starlit sky, as she slept silently against him.

He wondered if it was even possible to feel envious of a place, of what was now her home. Tifa didn't seem to realize that she had one sitting right next to her. The same home she'd been back to two years ago, on the eve of Sephiroth's first demise.

He dug up the words that had stuck in his mind when she said them sometime ago and repeated them incessantly in his mind thinking of a way to act upon them.

_Words aren't the only way of telling someone how you feel._

His eyes were trailing the flowers that still danced under the force of the wind, on the surface of the water. They were lining the edges now, twirling around as they moved in a steady circle around the edge of the pool. First, it was a yellow one, still not entirely open, drifting towards him, underneath his feet where they dangled over the edge and then twirling away. Then came a white one, spinning, green leaves half submerged in the water. It too, floated past him in a flutter of dancing petals.

He watched the next one approach, yellow once more, with his eyes alone because somewhere in the middle of his day-dream, all his other senses had drifted to the woman beside him. Even as he gazed at the flowers, he'd been watching her all along, keeping her in the corner of his vision. He saw her eyelids close halfway, heard her breathing relax and sighed.

Without a warning, he leaned over, gripping the edge of the wooden floorboards with one hand and plucked the yellow flower from the pool just as it reached him.

"Cloud!" Tifa shrieked, her eyes flying open as she jumped up behind him, curling both hands in his shirt and yanking him back.

Cloud smiled amusedly, falling back under the force of her pull, straight into her arms. Her pull was hard and he had to grip the edges of the floorboards quickly, to avoid crashing painfully into her. He continued to smile when she wrapped her arms around his chest protectively, holding him to her and she pressed her face into his shoulder, biting her lip, squeezing her eyes shut and bracing for a possible fall.

He'd been keeping her on edge too.

Her reaction to his innocent move was too fast that for a prolonged moment, she didn't seem to register that they were both safe and that neither of them was in any risk of falling into the water.

Her hair, amidst the frenzied feat she'd pulled slipped over both his shoulders. Cloud felt it tickle his skin lightly along with the harsh breaths she was trying to take. Concerned, he threaded his fingers through the sleek strands and tugged lightly in an attempt to lift that worry from her.

She shuddered slightly as she released him, interpreting his silent message and realizing that he was okay.

Cloud realized he couldn't blame her for overreacting. The last time he'd been in there, he was returning from the dead.

"What Tifa…" he muttered, not really expecting an answer. There was worry in his voice, deep enough to combat the fright he'd given her a moment ago.

"You scared me, Cloud…" There wasn't much force behind her words. He'd nearly given her a heart attack when he'd pulled that stunt, draining what little energy she had left.

Tifa waited a few moments for her breathing to stabilize and gave up and crawled back to his side, her hands sliding free and falling limply in her lap. He met her eyes and found the concern in them streaked with fatigue. He really had scared her, and she weakened because of it.

He was always doing that. Worrying her. Scaring her. Tiring her. But this time, as cruel as it was, he couldn't bring himself to regret it. This time, she had him to look after her.

Cloud sat back up in the same position he'd been, leaning slightly forward and turned his eyes to watch her with a small frown on his face.

Her breathing was ragged in the wake of the fright he'd given her and she closed her eyes and attempted to force it into regulation. Her heart was still pounding and she sighed, too tired to sit up and fell back to rest on the ground.

Cloud, worry marring his features, dropped the flower onto her lap and cushioned her fall with his arm before her head hit the floor. He'd done the same just a day ago, when she'd sat up abruptly calling for Marlene and then collapsed.

He shifted slightly, keeping his arm steady against her shoulders and neck as her head lolled back and her hair brushed gently against his skin. He waited for a few moments, for her to snap out of it and then pulled her back up to rest against him, realizing that she wasn't going to be able to sit up on her own anymore.

"It's cold, Tifa," he chided, eyes gesturing to the floor she was about to fall on, though his voice was gentle, slightly unnerved. "Are you okay?"

"Hmm," she mumbled wearily, trying to focus through the blur of sleep that seemed incessant on clouding her eyes. Her head had fallen somewhere on his arm or shoulder, she wasn't sure, but his scent was suddenly stronger and it soothed her agitated nerves.

She could feel his arm warm against her shoulder blades, shaking her gently as he tried to bring her mind back to focus and make sure she was okay. His fingers dug a little too roughly into her arm, tense with worry, but it didn't hurt because she was too tired to think of it.

Cloud continued to watch her worriedly and it suddenly occurred to him that she was just as tired by the harsh events of the day as he was. Though she hadn't been as physically involved as he had been in all the fighting, the burden she held was of an intense emotional caliber.

Cloud frowned at the thought. She'd been exposed to too much worry in the past hours, the kind of worry that would easily escalate into fear. Between protecting Denzel and Marlene, losing them both despite how hard she fought, watching Jenova's sons slowly destroy the life she'd worked so hard to build and struggling to find faith that he, Cloud, would overcome his guilt, she'd been tossed around like a rag doll into a maze of emotional insecurities.

And if that hadn't been enough, there was all that worry for him she kept bottled up inside her, along with the fear of the Geostigma that Denzel was suffering.

And then he'd nearly died. And she'd been watching.

And yet Tifa was still standing on two feet, fighting to give the children and him, her family, a good life.

He smiled slightly at the prospect. As emotional as Tifa was, she was too afraid to give up when it came to her life and her family and him. Sometimes it cost her the ability to smile. But she'd stayed with him when everything else was falling apart. She'd stayed _for_ him when even he himself tried to run from his demons. And when they caught up to him, she made him stop and turn around to join her in the fight for his freedom.

No she wasn't alright. Not by a long shot. But he smiled knowing she would be soon. And he would be there to watch her shine.

He tightened his hold around her shoulders slightly, and reached down with his free hand to pick the flower he'd dropped in her lap.

"I should head home," she murmured from somewhere against his shoulder and Cloud smiled knowing that even if she did have the strength to rise from his side, she would have none to protest his refusal.

"You should sleep," he retaliated, somewhat proudly, the hand that had been resting on her shoulder drifting to rest against her cheek and hold her in place in case she tried to get up.

He lifted his other hand, and gently smelt the flower before letting it go again. He watched it drift gently down to rest on her lap once more and smiled saying in a little more than a whisper, "You are home."

Tifa was already fast asleep.

Her skin had grown somewhat warmer than it had been a few minutes ago and he unconsciously tightened his hold on her to warm her even more. He wasn't sure if she heard his last words or not, but then it didn't matter because he just knew that she didn't need to hear his words to know what he was saying. She heard him with her heart like she always did and somewhere in his mind's eye, he saw her smile at him.

Seeing her in his mind had become a habit lately, along with listening to her voice and her breathing and just really wanting to be close to her.

He listened to her breathing now as it calmed, deepened and evened out silently wishing her sweet dreams and he relaxed some more, no longer worried, and let his hand fall, from where he'd been cradling her head against his shoulder, and let it lightly hit the floor next to her.

His eyes turned from the water to her and he just gazed at her head, resting trustingly against his shoulder with a curtain of dark, silky hair falling in sleek torrents all around them. It shimmered in what little light the moon had to offer, and when the clouds got in the way, it shimmered in the blue glow of his eyes. Sometimes it swayed and he would smile wondering if there was a certain flower girl up there ruffling her hair the same way she was ruffling his.

He leaned back on his arms slowly, eyes still glued to her, moving with slow, smooth carefulness until he was nearly resting on his elbows. He smiled when her head slipped from his shoulder and watched her, eyes twinkling with soft amusement as her head glided lightly against his chest before she tipped over completely, her upper body falling into his lap.

His hand was there, expectantly, open and suspended in the air to soften the collision of her head against his lap and when her cheek dipped into his palm, his fingers flexed and curved against it and he sat back up, easing her head gently to his thigh, and smiling amusedly as she remained oblivious.

He kept his hand there, trapped in between her cheek and his leg because he wasn't really sure he wanted to remove it and instead reached up to touch her other cheek with his other hand.

Cloud brushed away the tendrils of hair that had dipped into her eyes very aware that he was shaking slightly. The feel of her hair against his collar-bone as she fell was still vivid in his mind and the way she rested easily, so trustingly against him without a care in the world was lodging lumps of emotion in his throat.

He gazed at her. It hurt his eyes too much to see how peaceful she was, in his arms,but he couldn't stop gazing. His fingers moved, seemingly in a trance of their own, across her face, tracing features he'd never taken the time to admire before and then his hand trailed down her shoulder and glided along her arm, sweeping away the few, dark strands of hair that curled against her skin.

The contrast of the shimmering black against her pearly skin was breath-taking and just everything about her bought the same catch in the air he tried to suck in his throat.

She was so tired. Her shoulders had been stiff all along, but he could feel the tension in her body begin to seep out into the floor below. And somewhere along the way, it dragged whatever tension he'd been feeling with him and left him with a powerful sense of contentment that spread from that special place in his chest which throbbed incessantly at the sight of her.

He smiled and turned his gaze back to the water to see the effects of the wind on its surface begin to die down. The flowers that lined the edge no longer moved in impatient twirls. Instead, they glided gracefully over the water, floating towards the center until there was a small garden of wet, bright yellow and white splashed with green floating in the center of the lake.

He wondered if Aerith was trying to tell him something and when, on impulse, his eyes turned briefly to Tifa, still oblivious in her sleep, he understood, listening to the laughing voice echoing in his head.

_You're almost there, aren't you? Just one more piece left to that mind-boggling puzzle of your life. Just wait Cloud. It's a beautiful picture. You're going to thank me._

The sound of metal hitting the floor caught his attention and for a moment his whole body tensed, arms flexing around Tifa in an act of protection as he whirled around in the direction of the noise.

The silhouette of Fenrir greeted him, from the corner of the church, the silver metal glinting brightly in the moonlight. Cloud looked closer at the bike then his eyes wandered to the floor where he found the sword that he'd so carefully leaned against the bike.

He relaxed the look in his eyes softening and a smile gracing his lips.

Somewhere up there, a dark-haired, blue-eyed and rather mischievous friend, was seconding the flower girl's words.

He turned to look at Tifa, to make sure that the sound of his sword hitting the ground hadn't woken her up. He got distracted by the movement of his own hands and realized with a bit of a shock that he was no longer caressing her face but that he was holding the hand she'd curled innocently against his knee, brushing his thumb tenderly against her knuckles.

She had always been a light sleeper and it stunned him that despite the sounds and the movements of his fingers against hers, she slept on, oblivious to anything in the world because even in her sleep, she _knew_ that she was in his arms and that he was going to protect her from the whole world.

When the first drop of moisture fell against her arm, he thought it was raining and then he realized, turning slightly red in the process, that rain wasn't supposed to sting his eyes.

He thought back to what she'd told him to years ago, about words not being the only way to let people understand how he felt. Tifa had neglected to tell him a very important part.

Things that were spoken without words were much more beautiful than those that were.

His eyes sought the flower that had fallen from her lap over the course of the night and was now tipping against the edge as if trying to decide if it should stay up or fall down to join the rest of its family in the center of the lake.

Cloud didn't bother to pick it up. Tifa would be delighted if he gave it to her, he hardly ever gave her anything, but there was one other thing in this whole world that would bring tears of joy to her eyes. Just one thing that only he could give her…

And he wanted to. Not just for her, or even for him.

_For us…_

"Right, Tifa?" he whispered and smiled down at her threading his fingers through hers.

He touched her hair, his fingers lingering devotedly for a moment and then he slipped his arm underneath her shoulders, supporting her as he quietly slipped from underneath her slumbering form, being very careful not to disturb her sleep.

He drew her against him as he stood up, holding her close and paused for a moment watching as she settled her head comfortably against his collarbone. She still slept in peace, strangely oblivious to anything around her and Cloud felt pride knowing that she was simply trusting him enough to take care of her as she slept, the same way she'd stubbornly insisted on trusting him even when he claimed he was helpless.

"We should head back," he whispered softly as he turned towards his Fenrir and then he smiled thinking back to what she had said earlier. "Marlene would freak out if she found you gone."

_And just maybe, she'd be happy to find me there. And maybe Denzel would be happy and you, Tifa…_

He mounted his bike skillfully seating her behind him without waking her up and waited for a moment to make sure she wouldn't fall. Her arms had unconsciously slid around his waist and she leaned in, resting her face at his back.

"Where are you going, Cloud," Tifa mumbled against his back, still mostly asleep. "I can go back alone." She shifted to rest her other cheek against him and closed her eyes again.

Cloud didn't say anything for a moment, and stared at the bike's handlebars quietly, thinking about everything he wanted to tell her. He knew he still didn't have that kind of courage, enough of it to explain everything, to tell her everything he felt, but somehow, he would find it.

_For us…_

He touched her linked hands at his waist briefly and then grasped Fenrir's polished handlebars and started the bike.

His eyes wondered one last time to the pool, now behind them, and he saw with quiet fascination, the flowers _blooming_ in the center of the pool to recreate the garden that had been there only a few hours ago.

_So? Where_ are _you going?_

Light, laughing and playful, Cloud could almost see the mischievous gleams in both their eyes. He lifted a hand over his shoulder and gestured to them.

_Later._

He started the bike and drove towards the doors, only to stop at the threshold, thinking deeply, as if troubled. His head once again turned to the side, eyes scanning the place from over his shoulders and then settled on the two figures drenched in white light at the far end of the church, both looking at him with amused, expectant eyes as if waiting for the answer to the question they asked moments ago.

Cloud didn't say anything and let his eyes drift instead to the sleeping woman behind him. He only saw the top of her head but it didn't matter then, because it meant that she was with him.

_Where are you going?_

Aerith and Zack had asked him that and Tifa had asked him that a little while ago.

He remembered how uneasy he'd been a few minutes ago, afraid that he wasn't brave enough to tell Tifa everything he felt, what it was he wanted and how much he cared, and then he smiled, almost laughing as he realized that she'd given him the chance to tell her everything when she'd said those words.

_Not to the Promised Land?_ Aerith teased lightly, feigning hurt.

_Nah,_ Zack chuckled, casually hugging her shoulders. _Not this one_. _He's going to the Seventh Heaven._

Cloud smiled and looked back at the woman resting trustingly behind him and gently shook his head.

_Where are you going, Cloud?_ He could still hear the soft murmur of her sleepy voice, quiet and peaceful.

He started the bike again, and threw all his fears aside.

"To you," he said with quiet pride and sped though the doors and into the dark night, towards that special place, to those special people that waited there and to the rest of his life.

_Home._

The doors closed behind Cloud and Tifa with a soft thud that didn't echo and remained unheard to all but the two spirits lingering delightedly inside.

And in the center of the church, in the middle of the pool of holy water, a single flower, a beautiful yellow flower, was gliding through the water to join the rest of its family.


End file.
